Big laughs in Little Italy at College of DuPage

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's season continues with "Italian-American Reconciliation," John Patrick Shanley's dark comedy about a man whose obsession with his ex-wife threatens his current marriage. BTE's Kurt Naebig directs.

Facts: Opens Friday, Jan. 16, at McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. (630) 942-4000 or atthemac.org.

Metropolis stages Shue farce

An unhappily married and painfully shy Brit comes to America where he's introduced as a non-English speaking native from an exotic land, causing his hosts to let down their guard and reveal some rather embarrassing truths, in Larry Shue's comedy, "The Foreigner."

Facts: Opens Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

Combative comedy

Douglas Mumaw and David Wolley return as their alter egos Dirk Perfect and Guido Crescendo to Pheasant Run, where they celebrate chivalry and swordplay in their combative comedy, "The Swordsmen."

Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 17, at Pheasant Run Resort & Spa, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. (630) 584-6342 or noblefool.org.

What's new

• Elmhurst College friends Phil Riegle and Christopher Pazdernik debut their new musical "Far From Freud," about the challenges facing contemporary families, Friday, Jan. 16, at Village Players Performing Arts Center, 1010 Madison St., Oak Park. (866) 764-1010 or village-players.org.

• The Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, presents the Chicago premiere of "Cupid & Psyche," the Sean Hartley-Jihwan Kim musical inspired by the myth about a god in love with a beautiful princess whose romance is threatened by a jealous mother. The show opens Friday, Jan. 16, at 3801 S. Central Ave., Cicero. (708) 656-1800 or jpactheatre.com.

• "The Other Shore," Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian's drama about individuals crossing the river of life into nirvana, gets its Chicago premiere courtesy of Halcyon Theatre. Jennifer Adams directs the unconventionally staged production, which opens Friday, Jan. 16, at the Lincoln Square Arts Center, Barry United Methodist Church, 4754 N. Leavitt, Chicago. Free parking passes available at the box office. (312) 458-9170 or halcyontheatre.org.

• Newcomer 1027 Productions makes its Chicago area debut with "The Sum of Us," about a grieving widower living in Melbourne, Australia, and his gay son, both of whom are trying to find love. The play opens Friday, Jan. 16, at Piccolo Theatre in the Evanston Arts Depot, 600 Main St., Evanston. (773) 334-2765 or 1027productions.wordpress.com.

• Playwright Lee Blessing chronicles a road trip taken by a father and his teenage stepdaughter in "Great Falls," his latest play which premiered at 2008's Humana Festival of New American Plays. Profiles Theatre's Midwest premiere reunites ensemble member Darrell W. Cox and young actress Allison Torem who last appeared together in the company's Midwest premiere of "In a Dark Dark House." The play opens Friday, Jan. 16, at 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 549-1815 or profilestheatre.org.

• "Xanadu," the musical inspired by the 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly about one of Olympus' muses who falls in love with a mortal, begins previews Friday, Jan. 16, at Drury Lane Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, Jan. 28, (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Two men imprisoned by a totalitarian regime find their relationship altered with the arrival of a newcomer in "The Unseen," the latest by Craig Wright ("Orange Flower Water," "Lady"). Dado directs A Red Orchid Theatre's Chicago premiere featuring Danny McCarthy, Steve Key and Keith Kupferer. Previews continue through Saturday. The play opens Sunday, Jan. 18, at 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org.

• Brian Dennehy, Carla Gugino and Pablo Schreiber star in Robert Falls' production of "Desire Under the Elms," Eugene O'Neill's great tragedy about loneliness, desperation and greed centered around the love triangle created when an embittered young man has an affair with his stepmother, the much younger new wife of a hard-hearted patriarch. The centerpiece of Goodman Theatre's O'Neill festival, the play begins previews Saturday, Jan. 17, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The production, which reunites the design team from Falls' "King Lear," opens Jan. 25. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Emerald City Theatre Company presents the world premiere of "The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle" based on the books by Hugh Lofting about the man who talks to animals who takes his young protégé on a trip around the world to meet the Great Glass Snail. Previews begin Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Apollo Theatre, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The family-friendly show featuring puppets, music and audience interaction, opens Jan. 24. (773) 935-6100 or emeraldcitytheatre.com.

• Richard Chamberlain headlines the national tour of "Spamalot," the musical inspired by "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which begins performances Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• "Sunday school Cinema," where Sister (from "Late Nite Catechism" and "Put the Nuns in Charge") evaluates good, bad and condemned movies, opens Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. The comedy runs Wednesdays through Feb. 18. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Cirque du Soleil brings its touring show "Saltimbanco" - an examination of urban life - to the Sears Centre Arena, 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates for a brief run from Wednesday, Jan. 21, to Sunday, Feb. 1. (312) 559-1212 or cirquedusoleil.com.

• Chicago Shakespeare Theater's World Stage Series continues with "The Investigation" Peter Weiss' early theatrical examination of the Holocaust re-imagined by Dorcy Rugamba and Isabelle Gyselinx to address the genocide in 1994 of Rwanda's Tutsi population at the hands of the Hutus. The limited engagement begins Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.